Confinement
by The Silver Feathered Raven
Summary: On confinement, self hatred, and failing those who you care about.


A/N: I felt that I needed to do another one-shot, and I also felt that I wanted to do one on Yaone. So you get this, based on the part in volume six of the manga, where Yaone is confined after Ni and the others take Lirin away. I tried to show the changes in Yaones mind as she tries to escape...and I hope that I got it down.

**Note**: I've seen many variations on the spelling of Ni Jianyi's name. However, I am going by the spelling used in the english translations that have been released in America.

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**Confinement**

Nice eyes. Yes, she supposed that she did have nice eyes. She'd been told that on a number of occasions, but coming from _him_…it made her want to rip them out and crush them to a pulp.

Her wrists were raw; the skin rubbed off by the harsh rope. She had been struggling to free herself since they had left the room, trying to shrug the ropes off herself or to create enough friction to break them. No such luck; she was tied far too tightly. The ropes were wrapped around her middle, another length twisted around her wrists. Her legs weren't tied, but that didn't matter much. The door was locked; Ni had told her that as he left. Not that a lock would stop her from getting out, but she needed her hands free to do that. And as it was, she couldn't do anything but scrape the skin from her arms.

Ni. That—that bastard! And all of them, taking Lirin, tying her up, taking Lirin! All while Kougaiji was gone.

She had tried to fight them, tried to keep them from taking Lirin. But there wasn't much that she could have done. Well, she could have used a sleeping potion or something of that sort…

But Ni had been there. She had begun to move, to try and stop them from taking Lirin, and he had been there. Had pinned her arms to her sides and held her so tightly that all the kicking and struggling that she had done had been useless. She hadn't been able to stop them from taking her, and now she had no idea what they were going to do to that poor girl, the one who she had been charged with taking care of.

She let her head drop to the ground. What would Kougaiji think? How would he look at her, knowing that she had failed him? She had let them take his sister, someone that he loved so, so much. How could she face him, knowing that she had failed him?

She felt weak. So weak. How could she do anything? She had been right there, right beside Lirin, and still she had been able to do _nothing_. Nothing at all, only scream. And not even that when Ni had clamped his vile hand over her mouth. She'd bitten down, drawn blood, and all he done was _laugh_. Just laugh at her as she struggled futilely in his arms.

She felt sick and weak and useless. How could she have let them take Lirin? The thoughts kept running through Yaone's mind as she lay there on the cold stone floor. Her throat felt raw from the screaming and yelling that she had done. She had hoped that _someone_ would come and help her. Hoped that there was someone loyal to Kougaiji who would come to the aid of his sister. But…

She drew in a ragged breath, her eyes shut tight. Now was not the time to cry. She needed to get out of this. Once she was free she would go and try to find Lirin. Maybe she could repair the damage done before Kougaiji and Dokugakuji returned. She hoped that she could. But at the same time she doubted that anything could be done. She wasn't strong enough.

Granted, she was a lot stronger than others thought that she was. Half of what she showed to the world was a ploy, a mask that she hid behind. Show a weak, fragile, feminine side, and no one would know what you were capable of.

If Ni had done anything to Lirin, she would kill him.

With that thought, she resumed. Began to twist her arms. Enough blood and sweat, and maybe the ropes would slip off.

She flexed her shoulder muscles, tried to move her arms, and winced as the ropes dug into her flesh. She needed just a little room and then she could reach a knife that she carried, strapped to her thigh. Just a little bit of give in the ropes and she would be able to reach it. Yaone ground her teeth together as she pulled her arms apart, finding that the ropes had loosened by the smallest amount; there was about a fingers width of space between the inside of her wrists.

She jerked her entire body, drawing in a sharp breath as her face scraped on the ground. This was not good. Not good at all. If she could just move her arms enough—

Through the door she heard the sounds of footsteps and froze. If someone came in and realized that she was trying to free herself they would just tie her tighter. And if it were Ni…she shuddered. But the heavy footsteps passed and she breathed a sigh of relief. She gave silent thanks that it hadn't been Ni and, even if it had been, that he hadn't come into the room.

At least he hadn't done anything to her. Oh, yes, he had made some very suggestive comments before he left. But he hadn't done anything physical to her, other than detain her when they had taken Lirin. Yaone was glad that he hadn't done anything, hadn't touched her or anything worse. But she would still kill him if she were given the chance, if he had hurt Lirin.

The thought of Lirin caused her to struggle even harder, twisting and jerking her body so as to let her hands reach the knife at her side. A few more inches…

Yaone felt the rope strain against her arms and then a sharp pain shot up through them as some of her skin gave way. She ground her teeth, drawing blood where they caught on her lip. The salty liquid filled her mouth and she choked on it. Then she spat it out, trying to clear her throat. It wouldn't do any good to accidentally drown in her own blood. Perhaps she had bitten too deeply.

She rested again, turned on her side. This would take some more time, and she wasn't sure if she had that.

She was sure that she had been in here for over an hour. Long over an hour. Ni hadn't left for quite some time, obviously finding enjoyment in taunting her. After that she had lain still for…what, half an hour? At least that. So much could have happened while she was trapped in here, so much could have happened to Lirin…

_Lord Kougaiji, please return soon,_ she thought, repeating it over and over in her mind. If she said it long enough, maybe he would come. She hoped that he would return and save his sister.

In the far back of her mind there was a far more selfish reason for wanting him to come back. She wanted him to come and save _her_, just as he had done all those years ago. But she beat this thought back, squashed it down until it was almost nonexistent. She had no right to ask for his help, especially after she had failed him…

How would he look at her? When he came back and learned that they had taken his sister? When he learned that she hadn't been able to protect her?

Her body sagged against the ground and she found that tears had come to her eyes. She was worthless. She, Yaone, who prided herself in being able to make poisons and explosives, couldn't do _anything._ She was just burden to whoever put faith in her. After all, she couldn't even take care of herself, much less someone else.

Maybe she should have killed herself.

No. She shook herself, trying to drive the thought out. No, she just needed to get out of this. He would need her help, however worthless it was.

She drew in a deep breath, then pulled her arms to the side until she whimpered from the pain. Even then, she didn't stop. Her fingers were inches from the knife; she slide her bound hands under the hem of her skirt, pushed them up, then knocked the knife from its sheath. It clattered to the ground and Yaone paused, sweat dripping down her face. Good. She had gotten the knife out. Now all she needed was to cut the rope.

She flipped herself over, so that she lay on her back. Her hands found the cold metal of the blade first, cutting shallow gashes in them as she clutched at it, moving her hands until they wrapped around the hilt. Then she turned the knife until the blade lay flat against her wrists, moving it as carefully as she could so as not to cut too deeply through her skin.

It was a sharp knife and the rope gave way to it, falling away from her aching wrists in a snakelike coil. She dropped it then, rolling away, moving her arms back and forth to work the rope that bound her arms to her abdomen. Finally--_finally!_--they were free and the cords bunched around her waist, falling limply around her.

She lay there for a moment, breathing rapidly. She was free. At least, she was free in the sense that now she could get about opening the locked door.

She allowed a twisted smile to alight upon her features. With her skills and a knife, it wouldn't be hard. She only prayed that Lirin would be all right. She wasn't sure if she could save the girl by herself, but when Kougaiji and Dokugakuji returned…they would be able to.

It never occurred to her that Kougaiji would be lost to them as well.


End file.
